Broken Star
by TheHufflepunk
Summary: Esther Rothberg is a Jewish witch during the time of Grindelwald and Hitler. All she wants to do is live.
1. Chapter 1: Banim Choser Shalom

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am no way making any money from this- I'm just borrowing the world for a bit. All original characters belong to me.

This Chapter: Esther arrives at Hogwarts.

Chapter 1: Banim Choser Shalom (Children Without Peace)

Thousands of people stood staring up at a screaming figure on a raised platform. There were large banners on either side of him, and many people were waving miniature flags with swastikas on them as they cheered. She too stared at the screaming figure, but not in awe as the rest of the crowd did. She stared at him in fear. She couldn't remember how she got into the middle of the crowd, but she knew she had to get out before someone realized... Turning away from the platform, she tried to push to the back of the crowd. This brought attention to her. The crowd started pressing in on her, and she couldn't breathe, but still she pushed. They tried to grab her, to restrain her, but she somehow managed to get out of the crowd and onto a street.

But the scene in the street was worse. A mob of angry people were pillaging stores, breaking the glass windows of many shops, setting fire to them, stealing as much as their arms could carry. They were pulling people from the shops and beating them in the streets. She saw the synagogue at the other end of the street. From where she was standing, she could see smoke pouring from the building, and flames creating a dull red glare against the black sky. In the back of her mind she registered that, only a few moments before, it had been mid-afternoon, but paid no mind to the change other than that. She raced towards the synagogue, and she reached it just as she saw her father struggling to climb out a window after her little brother, Moshe. Moshe saw her and ran into her arms, crying. Her father managed to get out also, and grabbed her and Moshe and pulled them away from the synagogue. They ran, trying to get away from the mob.

"I wasn't able to put out the fire," her father was saying as he ran, "There was too much of it."

Running through the streets, she saw many figures in black robes mixed among the mob. She knew who they were. They were supporters of Grindelwald.

By now, her father had his wand out, ready to defend himself and his children. He stunned a man who was running at them, holding a baseball bat. They continued running. They were almost home, where they would be safe. Her father himself had placed protective wards on the house.

Suddenly, he stopped. She saw one of Grindelwald's supporters behind him, holding a wand to the middle of his back.

"Children," he said quietly, "run."

No sooner were these words out of his mouth than she heard the words Avada Kedrava and saw a green light envelope her father. He fell silently to the ground.

"PAPA!"

Esther awoke with a start, gasping for breath. She wiped cold sweat from her forehead as she surveyed her surroundings and remembered where she was. She was sitting alone in a train compartment that was taking her to Hogwarts. When she had fallen asleep, the train hadn't started moving yet. Esther was grateful that nobody else had been in the compartment to witness her having the nightmare.

The dream she had just woken up from was not a new one. She'd been having the same dream since she was 10 years old, since the night her father had died. As her breathing slowed down to a normal pace, she looked around the tiny compartment for some distraction. She didn't want to think about that night any more than she had to. But it was no use. The horrible images played over and over again in her mind, pushing her back to the brink of panic. It seemed that the harder she tried to push the memories away the more they dominated her thoughts, driving away any hope of escape.

Esther clutched Moshe to her side as she watched her father's body fall lifelessly to the ground. They started to run, but the hooded figure was already raising its wand at them, ready to slaughter them. Moshe stumbled and pulled Esther down with him. She closed her eyes, afraid for Moshe, but accepting the fact that she would die. Perhaps Moshe would be able to escape...

Suddenly she heard something thud behind her on the street. 'Please, not Moshe!' she thought frantically.

"Esther? Moshe?"

Esther slowly opened her eyes. The hooded man was sprawled on the ground and her Uncle Abram was standing over her and her brother. Her uncle had stunned the man and had thus saved their lives. She stood up and leapt into her uncle's arms, crying violently. After a few minutes, Uncle Abram picked up her father's body and carried it to Esther's house, gently guiding Esther and Moshe...

A knock on the door to her compartment broke her away from her memories. The door slid open and a girl with long black hair poked her head in. She looked around the compartment for a moment, then looked at Esther.

"Hey, can my sister and I sit in here? All the other compartments are full."

"Maybe if _someone_ had gotten on the train more quickly instead of gaping at Davis Potter," remarked someone behind the girl.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Anyway, can we sit here?"

Esther nodded. "I don't mind."

The girl opened the door further and walked into the compartment, sitting across from Esther. Another girl followed and sat next to her. The two girls looked exactly alike, except that the first girl's hair was long, hanging down to the middle of her back, and the second girl's hair only reached her shoulders.

"I'm Nicole Fairfax and this is my twin sister Gwendolyn," said the second girl.

"But everyone calls me Gwen," added the first girl.

Esther shook both girls' hands. "I'm Esther Rothberg."

"Nice to meet you," said Nicole.

"Are you a transfer student? I don't think I've seen you before, and I know you're not a first year, at least you don't look like it. I don't recognize your accent either. What school did you to go to? What country did you move from?" Gwen said this all so quickly that it took Esther a moment to catch up with what she said.

"Don't mind Gwen," advised Nicole, "She always greets people she doesn't know with endless amounts of questions."

"Oh," said Esther. "Well, I'm a fourth year transfer from Beauxbatons, but I was born in Germany."

"Really?" said Gwen, "We're fourth years too. And since you've lived in Germany and France, that means you know English, French, _and_ German?"

"It's not a big deal. I had to learn them when I moved with my family, and it took me a lot of time to become fluent. I'm still a little off in my English."

"But still, that's amazing!"

"We've been on holiday in France before, but we've never been to Germany. What was it like there?" asked Nicole curiously.

"Well...ah..." Esther's thoughts jumped suddenly back to her nightmare and the night her father died. But she couldn't tell them anything about that. Especially since they had only just met. "It was... it was nice." Esther cringed at not being able to think up a good lie, or even an interesting one.

Nicole and Gwen looked at Esther strangely and seemed to know she was hiding something ('How could they not, after that _brilliant _lie?') but they didn't press the issue.

"So," said Nicole, changing the subject, "You know what the different Houses are and their traits, right?" When Esther nodded, Nicole continued, "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"I don't know. The headmaster says that I'm to be sorted privately before the feast begins. I think I have fair chance of being a Ravenclaw, though."

"I wouldn't doubt it. You already know three languages!"

Esther gave a small smile. 'Five languages,' she thought, 'if you count Yiddish and Hebrew... but those just come with my background.'

"Well, if you are in Ravenclaw, you'll be with Nicole here," stated Gwen. Nicole nodded.

"What house are you in?" Esther asked Gwen.

"I'm in Gryffindor."

"Oh," said Esther, "So, you are twins, but you are in different houses?"

Gwen laughed. "We may look identical, but the similarities mostly stop with our appearances. For instance, I'm known for being loud and outspoken-"

"And I'm a bit quieter," said Nicole, "Charms is my best subject-"

"Along with everything else," muttered Gwen. Out loud, she said, "And I bloody hate charms, almost as much as potions. I like transfiguration the best."

"Oh." Esther couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Well, we do have one other thing in common," said Nicole, "We're both chasers on our house teams."

"But that doesn't really make a difference anyway, as we're in different houses. All it does is make for some good natured sibling and inter-house rivalry," laughed Gwen.

Nicole laughed a little bit too, and Esther gave a small smile. The twins were very nice and interesting, if not a little overwhelming at first. At least they were keeping Esther's mind off of her nightmare.

"Speaking of quidditch, do you play at all?" asked Nicole.

"A little. I'm a fair keeper."

"Really? If you get sorted into Ravenclaw, you should try out for a position on the team. Our keeper graduated last year."

"Hey! There's no guarantee she'll get sorted into Ravenclaw. There's a chance she'll get sorted into Gryffindor; I can feel it. And besides, we need a good keeper as much as you do."

Esther laughed a little at the twins. It was right what they had told her, their positions on house teams did spark some rivalry.

"You haven't even seen me play," she said, "how do you know I'm a good keeper?"

"We can tell," they both said at the same time, prompting laughter from all three girls.

"And besides," added Gwen, "you said you were, and you don't give the impression of someone who would lie."

A moment later, there was another knock on the compartment door and it slid open again. This time it wasn't a student; it was a plump, middle-aged witch pushing a snack cart. She smiled cheerily at the girls as she asked them if they wanted anything off of the cart. The three girls bought some candy and continued talking.

Well, at least Gwen and Nicole continued talking. Esther was mostly listening, putting in an occasional comment here and there. First, the twins filled her in on some of the professors and classes she should watch out for.

"The worst class is potions," stated Gwen, "it's bloody horrible. Bellmont, the Potions Professor, is crazy. He's head of Slytherin, but doesn't show any favoritism... even towards his own house. It's a change from the last Potions Professor we had, but I don't know if it's any better... he hates all the students, even those in his own house!"

"But it is better, Gwen," said Nicole, "At least now, the Slytherins can't get away with disturbing that class or getting easy grades."

Gwen shrugged off her sister's comment. "He's still unhinged."

Gwen then proceeded to tell Esther how much fun it is to go exploring the castle at night. This raised mild protest from Nicole about how many detentions that Gwen had gotten because of her wanderings. Actually, to Esther it looked like Nicole was just teasing her sister about the detentions, as she noticed she had a slightly amused look on her face that she was trying to hide. But whether Nicole meant her reprimands or not, Gwen didn't pay them any mind.

"The best place to go," Gwen continued, ignoring a rather forced looking scowl from Nicole, "is the kitchens. You can go any time, day or night, and the house elves will give you anything you want."

"It also happens to be against the rules," said Nicole pointedly.

"That's a minor point. Rules only matter if you're caught," laughed Gwen.

The three girls continued talking and eating their candy until, a few hours later, a prefect knocked on the compartment door and informed them that they would be arriving at Hogwarts in a few minutes and they had better get their robes on. They hurriedly slipped on the school robes over the clothes they were wearing. Only a couple minutes later, the train stopped and they climbed off, stepping into a light rain.

"I swear!" exclaimed Gwen, "They must put a charm on the place. Every single year it's raining when we arrive. Do you think they do it to make Hogwarts more mysterious to the first years, or 

just to make us more eager to get into the school?"

"If they do indeed cast a charm to make it rainy every year," laughed Nicole, "it's probably a combination of the two."

Esther laughed a little bit and looked around her. There were students everywhere. She heard someone calling the first years, telling them to go in one direction, but she noticed all the other students were heading another way. When Gwen and Nicole started walking, Esther followed them and saw that the direction they were going was leading to an area filled with stagecoaches. Gwen and Nicole climbed inside a coach and Esther followed them, but before she stepped into the carriage, she felt someone roughly jostle her. Looking around in order to see who bumped into her, she saw a tall boy with dark hair striding away. Shrugging it off, Esther climbed into the carriage and closed the door behind her. Immediately, the stagecoach started moving, rattling towards Hogwarts.

As the stagecoach bounced onwards, Esther was gazing out one of the windows, watching the large castle as they moved closer and closer to it. It was gigantic, much larger than Beauxbatons, with many towers and turrets, and thousands of lighted windows. Esther couldn't tell how many stories there must be in the castle, but there were many of them. The large structure looked, and indeed was, ancient, but yet it seemed incredibly strong and stable. The weathered stones would, aided by magic of course, support it for millennia to come. They also added a feeling of majesty and timelessness to the atmosphere that made the scene even more breathtaking.

The stagecoach passed the front gates and made its way up a long, sloping path towards Hogwarts. In a few minutes, the coach stopped and the girls climbed out. The three of them climbed up the steps to the castle and passed through the two gigantic oak doors that led to the entrance hall.

There was another set of doors that led into the Great Hall. Esther could see four long tables, which were already crowded with students, and another table, perpendicular to the first four, where a few adults, presumably professors, were seated. Most of the students passed through this second set of doors, but a few were milling around, talking. Esther wasn't sure what she should do. She was supposed to be sorted before the feast, so she didn't think she should enter the Great Hall with everyone else. When Gwen and Nicole started towards the Great Hall, Esther told them that she would meet up with them later, after she was sorted. Esther stood awkwardly in the entrance hall for a few minutes, wondering what she should do before she heard a voice behind her.

"Esther Rothberg?"

Esther turned around and saw two people looking at her.

"I'm Headmaster Dippet and this is Professor Dumbledore, the Deputy Headmaster and transfiguration professor."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Professors."

The headmaster was very old and appeared slightly frail, but he looked very warm and kindly. He was slightly tall and was almost completely bald, with the exception of a couple patches of white hair. Professor Dumbledore was tall as well, and middle-aged, but also seemed very amiable. Dumbledore also had long auburn hair and a beard of the same color that was a good two or three feet long.

"Come, Miss Rothberg," said Headmaster Dippet softly, "Your future awaits you."


	2. Chapter 2: Beit HaChachamim

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, and am in no way making any money from this. All original characters belong to me.

Chapter 2: Beit HaChachamim (House of the Wise)

Headmaster Dippet and Professor Dumbledore led Esther away from the Entrance Hall, down a corridor to the right. They'd continued for several minutes and passed through many corridors before they stopped at a stone gargoyle.

"Aurora," said Professor Dippet. At this, the stone gargoyle leapt aside, revealing a moving spiral staircase. Professor Dumbledore and the Headmaster stepped onto it, and Esther followed. The staircase took them upwards, and Professor Dippet informed Esther that they were going to his office. After a few moments, Esther saw an oak door with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin. The Headmaster stepped off of the moving staircase, opened the door and motioned for Esther to enter.

Esther found herself in a large, circular room. On one side, there was a very large, claw-footed desk, on which there were a few small stacks of parchment, some quills, and an inkwell. There were portraits of former Headmasters and Headmistresses covering the walls, all of whom were sleeping. One of the portraits was even emitting very loud snores. And in the center of the room, there was a large, tattered old hat, placed upon a stool.

The Headmaster and Professor Dumbledore entered the office behind her and closed the door.

Esther looked up at them, waiting for them to tell her what to do.

"This is the Hogwarts Sorting Hat," said Professor Dumbledore, "it will sort you into one of the four Hogwarts houses**:** Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin."

He smiled at her amiably, picked up the hat, and gestured that she should sit on the stool. Esther sat, and Professor Dumbledore placed the hat on her head. After a moment, she heard a small voice speaking in her ear.

"Now**,** let's see... hard-working... very loyal and extremely protective of those close to you, but you have an inhibition in trusting people that removes Hufflepuff as an option..."

Esther frowned slightly. How was she supposed to trust people when you never knew who was one of Grindelwald's supporters or who was--

Her thoughts were cut off when the voice spoke again. "Yes, a lack of trust is natural enough after all you've gone through; you've faced so much already, and you have come through your trials admirably… However, your most outstanding trait is your intelligence."

'The languages and all the defenses I know,' she thought.

"You have much knowledge already, yes, but that's not all of it... you're very wise for someone so young; you know many things that no book can teach. Things that, in fact, many respected witches and wizards have yet to learn. You belong in RAVENCLAW!"

The hat was pulled off of her head, and she looked up to see the two men smiling benignly at her.

"Very well," said Professor Dippet, "I will escort you to the Great Hall while Professor Dumbledore goes and greets the first years."

Professor Dumbledore smiled once more at Esther before picking up the stool and hat and leaving the room.

"Come along," said Professor Dippet, leading Esther out of the room. He guided her down the spiral staircase and through the same corridors they had traveled a few minutes before.

"As a Ravenclaw," said the Headmaster as they walked, "your Head of House is Professor Flitwick, who is also the Charms professor."

Esther nodded in reply.

"Ah, here we are," remarked the Headmaster as they reached the Great Hall.

The Hall was almost completely filled with chattering students, except for a section at the end of each of the four long tables, where there were place settings, but no students. There were no more people entering the Hall, and it seemed as if everyone had already settled into their respective places. Remembering that they had been taken in a different direction than the rest of the students, Esther assumed that the empty seats were waiting to be filled by the yet-to-arrive first years.

"That is the Ravenclaw table," Dippet said, pointing to the middle of the room, "and now I must join the staff table. Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Rothberg."

The headmaster walked up to the staff table, leaving Esther standing in the middle of the Great Hall, wondering where she would sit at the table and join her new house-mates. That is, she was wondering until she saw Nicole flagging her down from her spot near the end of the table. Esther walked over to her and sat down in the open spot that Nicole had saved.

"So**,** you are a Ravenclaw!" Nicole greeted her.

Esther smiled. "So it appears."

A moment later, the large doors to the Great Hall, which had been closed again after Esther and Professor Dippet entered, were opened**,** and a group of wet and scared-looking first years entered. They slowly walked to the front of the Great Hall, and many looked up and stared at the ceiling as they did so.

Wondering what they were staring at, Esther glanced up as well and saw that there appeared to be no ceiling, just the open sky and the elements. The rain clouds seemed to have passed**,** and she had a perfect view of the stars shining in the night sky. She knew the ceiling must have been enchanted but was impressed none the less.

She took her eyes off of the ceiling and looked at the first years again. The group was now standing a few yards from the staff table**,** and their eyes, which had previously been staring at the enchanted ceiling, were now fixed on the Sorting Hat. Everyone in the Hall, not only the first years, was staring at the hat, when a tear near the brim opened**,** and the hat started to sing.

You may think I'm old and ragged**,**

That my seams need a good mend**,**

But no other hat you'll ever wear

Can give the advice I lend.

I'll tell which house is fit for you,

Which of the Founders Four**,**

For I can see inside your head

And tell which one you're suited for.

Are you noble and brave of heart?

Gryffindor is the house for you.

Or are you the trusting and loyal sort?

Then a Hufflepuff through and through.

If you are wise and quick to learn,

In Ravenclaw you belong**.**

However, if you are sly and cunning**,**

Slytherin won't steer you wrong.

One by one**,** come have a seat

And try me on for size**;**

I'll tell you why and where to go

The Sorting Hat never lies!

There was polite applause, and the hat bowed in response. Professor Dumbledore, who was standing next to the hat, cleared his throat.

"When your name is called, you will come forward, sit on the stool**,** and put on the hat to be sorted." He paused to smile encouragingly at the frightened-looking group of first years and then called out, "Abera, Joel."

At this, a small, fair-haired boy stepped out of the crowd of first years. He walked apprehensively forward and sat down as directed on the stool. After a few moments, the hat declared him a Hufflepuff, amidst the clapping of the boy's new housemates.

The next name called was "Ashton, Kerry," a name which belonged to a girl with extremely curly red hair. To the excitement of Esther's own house, the girl became the first Ravenclaw from the new batch of first years. Kerry was welcomed heartily at the other end of the table as another name was called.

After the last student was sorted, Professor Dippet stood and clapped his hands; piles of food suddenly appeared on the empty tables. Everyone immediately began dishing large helpings of the different dishes onto their plates.

Nicole ate a few bites before she turned to Esther to introduce her to the surrounding girls.

"This is Sarah Houghton, Natalie Osten, and Brenna Chamlee," she said, pointing out each girl in turn. "They are the other fourth year Ravenclaw girls. This is Esther Rothberg, the new student."

The three girls smiled warmly at Esther.

"Where are you from?" asked Brenna curiously.

"Beauxbatons," said Esther, "but I'm originally from Germany. I lived there until I was ten."

"Germany?" said Natalie. She paused, and looked thoughtful. "My father works for the Ministry of Magic, in the office of International Magical Cooperation. He works with officials from the German Ministry on a fairly regular basis, and from the little he's told me, things are getting pretty bad there. Not only is the Ministry struggling with keeping Grindelwald in check, but they've also come across a problem dealing with an increase of Muggle violence. He says German Muggles are getting ready to fight their own war." There was another pause. "Is that why your family moved?"

Esther said nothing in reply, only looked down at her plate and poked at her food. The other four girls exchanged furtive glances. There was a tense silence for a short time before Sarah broke in with a different subject.

"So, Nicole, any ideas on who is going to try out for the open positions on the house team this year?"

With the conversation now focused on Quidditch, Esther looked up from her plate and contentedly followed the dialogue, making occasional comments here and there. From Quidditch, the topic changed to classes and teachers and as the group finished eating their desert, they were discussing some of the more interesting parts of the castle.

"Some rooms in the castle shift from place to place," said Sarah. "Once in first year, I got lost trying to find my way back to our dormitories from Transfiguration. I wandered all over the castle, and at one point I ended up in a room near the kitchens, which I had never seen before. It was filled with Muggle pocket-watches, all of which were broken. It was very odd, and I've never seen that room again."

"And I once stumbled across a room with some strange language written all over the walls," volunteered Brenna. "It disappeared, so to speak, just like the pocket-watch room."

"Looks like the feast is over," commented Natalie as the deserts disappeared.

"Wait until you see our common room, Esther**;** it's wonderful!" Nicole told her.

Esther stood and followed the Ravenclaw prefects out of the Great Hall, walking along with her new dorm-mates. She was led through an assortment of long corridors, up three staircases (one of which had a trick step they were advised to watch out for), and past countless doors before the group stopped. They were standing in front of a large, moving painting, much like many others that decorated the halls of the school.

The painting contained a young but somewhat tired looking man, who wore 18th century clothing and was seated at a very old-fashioned looking desk. At the moment, he was leaning forward, quickly writing something on one of the many pieces of parchment that were scattered across his desk. He looked up, and smiled upon seeing the group.

"Password?"

The prefect who had been guiding the group turned around to face them.

"This is Renée, more commonly known as The Poet. He guards the entrance to our common room." She turned back to the painting. "'The unexamined life is not worth living,'" she said.

The painting swung away from the wall, revealing only the solid stone wall it had been covering. A moment later, a portion of the wall shifted, revealing a doorway. The prefect stepped through and everyone else followed. When the last person in the group stepped through the doorway, it was sealed off again.

"The Poet is very partial to using quotes from Muggle philosophers and authors as passwords. Ravenclaw is the only house that can boast that no one from another house has ever been able to discover its dormitories, and that is largely due to him. Anyone outside our house who comes across his picture will only end up getting into long, drawn out, and mostly one-sided philosophical discussions. He sometimes lapses and does that with Ravenclaws, but all you have to do is interrupt him and say the password**,** and he'll let you in."

The prefect paused in order to let the group's attention shift to their surroundings. Esther looked around and found she was standing in a rather large room. The wall she was facing held a large fireplace, in which a fire was burning, and doorways on either side. All of the other walls, including the one by the entrance, seemed to be giant bookshelves. There were also a couple of ornately carved dark wooden tables, several chairs, and one small couch covered in dark blue velvet.

"This is the Ravenclaw common room," she began again, "and our own personal library. The Hogwarts library has many books, but most of them are for reference and magical theory, and not many are useful in stimulating new thoughts and ideas. That's what these books are for. They are mainly philosophy and literature, by both muggle and wizard authors. Rowena Ravenclaw began our collection herself, with this copy of _Beowulf_, which is the oldest book in the school."

The prefect paused and pulled an ancient leather-bound book from the wall. She examined it for a moment before resuming her speech.

"It's also the oldest copy of that book in existence. The other original manuscripts were destroyed in the 16th century. Since Rowena Ravenclaw's time**,** the collection has grown considerably, with new additions from Ravenclaw students each year. Since the founding, every student who has passed through this house has donated at least one book. Before you graduate, each of you will have done so also." She paused again and smiled.

"And I believe that covers what you need to know. There are only a few things left to tell. To exit the common room, all you need to do is pull on the copy of _Paradise Lost _on the wall behind you**,** and the doorway will open. The girls' dormitories are through the doorway to the left of the fireplace, and the boys' are to the right."

With that, the prefect walked through the doorway to the left of the fireplace, apparently to her own dorm. All of the first years, most of whom looked like they were going to fall asleep standing, immediately followed suit, as did many of the older students. Esther and Nicole stayed behind. Esther was inspecting some of the books on the shelves, and Nicole was watching Esther, waiting for a reaction.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Nicole asked after a moment.

"Yes," said Esther, turning around to face her, "It is perfect. It's one of my favorite places already."

Nicole smiled. "That's good."

Esther nodded. "You don't have to wait out here for me," she said after a moment**.** "I'll be in the dormitory in a few minutes."

"Alright." Nicole looked at Esther**,** contemplating something, but after a minute, she shook her head slightly and walked out of the room.

Esther turned back to the bookshelves. She felt extremely tired, and the feast she had just eaten made her even sleepier, but she didn't know if she was going to have a very good night's sleep. In the likely chance that she'd wake up in the middle of the night from her recurring nightmare, she needed something to keep her mind occupied until she could ease herself back to sleep.

After examining the books, Esther pulled _To the Lighthouse _from the shelves and walked through the doorway to the left of the fireplace. The doorway opened up into a stairwell, which curved broadly to the left and was wide enough for two people to walk through side by side. Near the base of the staircase, there was a door with a sign that read 'first-years.'

Continuing up the stairs, Esther passed a few more doors before coming to a door on her right which was designated as the fourth-year dorms. She opened the door and walked into a moderately sized circular room. The room held five four-poster beds, each of which had deep blue hangings and bedspreads. To the left of each bed was a small dresser, made out of the same dark wood as the furniture in the common room. Looking around, she saw that her trunk had been placed in front of the bed nearest to the door.

Nicole, Sarah, Natalie, and Brenna were already situated and settling down in their respective beds. They had been talking, but had stopped when the door opened and Esther came in.

"Esther," said Nicole, "did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes," said Esther, holding up _To the Lighthouse_, "I was just looking for a good book. I usually like to read before I go to sleep."

"I don't see how you're awake enough to read that right now," yawned Sarah**.** "I'm completely exhausted."

"Force of habit," Esther shrugged.

The girls all finished settling in and then crawled into their beds, extremely tired. The hangings around all five beds were pulled shut, and everyone except for Esther dropped immediately off to sleep. Esther read by the light of her wand for about ten minutes before it became too much of an effort to keep her eyes open. Reaching through the curtains, Esther placed her wand and the book on top of her dresser, then lay down and placed her head on the very comfortable pillow.

Before completely drifting off, she whispered almost inaudibly: "Sh'ma y'israel adonai elohaynu adonai ekhad."


	3. Chapter 3: Tchilat ha Shanah, Tchilat ha...

Standard disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or anything the magnificent JKR has created, but all original characters and situations do belong to me and my overactive imagination. 

* * *

Chapter 3: Tchilat ha Shanah, Tchilat ha Shigrah (Start of the Year, Start of the Routine)

The synagogue… Moshe… Father…Avada Kedavra… "PAPA!"

Esther sat bolt upright in bed, taking in quick, shallow breaths and looking around frantically**. **After a moment, she recalled where she was and lay back down to let her pulse return to its normal speed.

The hangings were still completely shut around her bed, so she knew that none of the other girls had seen her thrashing about in her nightmare or waking up from it. But had they heard her?

She wasn't comfortable sleeping in the same room as others, and tried to avoid the situation. When she had been at Beauxbatons, she had regularly requested Dreamless Sleep Potion, so she did not know if she talked or made noise in her sleep. The only person outside of her family who knew about her nightmares was Ruth Scherner, her best friend, who still lived in Germany.

Had she had woken anyone? Esther pulled her bed-hangings open a few inches and peered into the dormitory, wondering if it was morning yet. It was still completely dark and the hangings around all the other beds were closed. Esther thought she heard quiet snoring coming from Sarah's bed, which was immediately to the right of her own.

Sighing in relief, Esther retreated to her bed and attempted to go back to sleep—unsuccessfully, though, because as soon as she closed her eyes, the images from the nightmare came flying back. It also didn't help that she was now wide-awake. Resigned to the fact that she would not, in all likelihood, be getting back to sleep very soon, Esther retrieved her wand and her book from atop the dresser next to her bed and began to read.

She read for about a half-hour before her eyelids became heavy again and she felt tired enough to go back to sleep. After whispering "_Nox_" to extinguish the light of her wand, she placed her wand and the book back on the bedside dresser.

Esther woke the next morning feeling rested (having experienced no more nightmares after going back to sleep). She pulled open the hangings around her bed and yawned. Her dorm-mates, who were already mostly dressed, greeted her and bid her good morning.

"We were going to wake you up soon if you didn't wake up on your own," Sarah informed her. "It's time for breakfast."

"What time is it? I didn't sleep too late, did I?" Esther asked.

"No, you didn't," Nicole assured her. "Classes don't start for about an hour."

"But if we don't hurry," added Brenna, "we might not get as much food, and I'm really hungry this morning." Her stomach rumbled, as if to back up her statement, and she grinned apologetically.

"When are you not hungry, Bren?" laughed Sarah.

Brenna laughed as well. "Well, usually it's because of Quidditch practices!"

"Sure, sure…"

Brenna turned to Natalie, whom Esther would have thought was paying no attention to the dialogue around her, were it not for the half-smile that was on her face as she gathered her books.

"You need to let your hair down a little bit," stated Brenna abruptly. "Why are you always so serious?"

Natalie shrugged and looked at Brenna in amusement. "I just am. Why are you never serious?"

"Now, wait a second, that's not fair. I'm serious sometimes. It's just a very rare occasion, that's all."

"My point exactly."

Esther dressed and got ready quickly, listening to the amusing exchange and then following the other girls down to breakfast in the Great Hall. The group sat down at the Ravenclaw table and found that there was still plenty of food to go around, despite Brenna's fears. Esther poured herself a goblet of pumpkin juice and put some eggs, toast, and hash browns on her plate.

"Do you want any?" Nicole asked, offering Esther a plate of sausages and bacon.

"No, thank you."

She began to eat and a few minutes later, a prefect came by to give them their schedules. Looking over her schedule, Esther saw that her first class was History of Magic. After that, she had Transfiguration, shared with Slytherin, followed by Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, and finally Charms with the Gryffindors.

"We don't have Potions until Thursday," sighed Sarah.

Esther remembered what Nicole and Gwen had told her about Professor Bellmont and was glad that she didn't have to start her term at Hogwarts with his class.

"What extra courses are you taking?" Brenna asked Esther.

She glanced back down at her schedule. "Muggle Studies and Arithmancy."

A new voice spoke from behind them. "Arithmancy? Ugh. Too many numbers."

Esther turned around and found that Gwen was standing behind her. "Hello, Gwen."

"Hello, Esther," said Gwen brightly. "So, you ended up in Ravenclaw after all? It's a shame, being in Gryffindor is much more fun."

"That may be the case, Gwen, but at least in Ravenclaw, Esther is safe from you corrupting her into disregarding all school rules," stated a grinning Nicole.

"Nah, I'll manage to corrupt her anyway."

"And what's wrong with Arithmancy?" asked Natalie, who was laughing. "I happen to like that class."

Gwen adopted an air of mock solemnity. "My dear Natalie, I am aware that Arithmancy is the most interesting, sophisticated, wonderful class that Hogwarts offers, but tragically, I am prevented from taking it due to circumstances beyond my control. You see, some years ago I learned I suffer from a terrible affliction. Yes," Gwen said, gasping melodramatically, "I am allergic to numbers! I have only to see a group of numbers to feel nauseous, and if I am exposed to them for too long, my brain stops working altogether!"

"It must be a new medical phenomenon," laughed Esther.

"Hmm," said Sarah, "you get nauseous and your brain stops working. That sounds familiar. Don't those symptoms also occur around a certain Gryffindor prefect?"

"I do believe that's correct," agreed Brenna. "You wouldn't happen to be allergic to Davis Potter as well, would you, Gwen? Because it seems your brain ceases to function quite frequently when he's around."

Gwen laughed good-naturedly. "Oh, be quiet, I'm allowed to be an idiot once in a while. After all, I'm in Gryffindor, not Ravenclaw." She grinned at Nicole. "Said it before you could!"

All the girls laughed, but Nicole rolled her eyes at her sister.

"Well," said Gwen, "it's been nice chatting with you lot, but I have to get to Potions now. Can you believe I have to start out the year with Bellmont?" She pulled a face. "Anyway, I'll see you all later in Charms."

"We should probably be getting to Binns' class as well," said Natalie as Gwen walked out of the Great Hall.

Now it was Brenna's turn to roll her eyes. "Oh, yes. We don't want to miss any of the excitement, now do we?"

The group made its way to the History of Magic classroom and took their seats. Esther sat between Brenna and Sarah in the second row, while Natalie and Nicole sat in front of them.

"You won't be needing that," mentioned Brenna as Esther took her copy of _A History of Magic_ out of her bag. "The classes are always lectures. All you ever need is parchment, a quill, and a way to keep yourself awake. Everyone has their own method."

Esther took out her quill and parchment and wondered vaguely if staying awake in this class would be as hard as Brenna was making it sound. When Professor Binns entered the classroom as the bell rang, Esther got her answer.

Professor Binns was a very old and deeply boring man whose voice, it seemed to Esther, had the power to lull unsuspecting students into unconsciousness. After entering, he immediately began to give notes on the International Warlock's Conference of 1437. Esther started taking notes with the rest of her classmates, fairly confident that she would be able to stay awake. Only a few minutes later, she found herself having to fight to concentrate on Binns's lecture. Looking around, she noticed that the majority of the class also looked as though they were about to fall into a stupor. And, as Brenna had said, it looked like everyone had his or her own way of staying awake and aware during the lecture.

Brenna, along with taking notes, was keeping a tally on the side of her parchment, for three categories: "shuffling parchment," "clearing throat," and "goblins." At the moment, it looked like the "goblin" count was in the lead. On Esther's other side, Sarah was doodling in the margin of her notes, apparently illustrating certain parts of Binns's lecture. Among Sarah's illustrations, Esther saw a rather irritated-looking Goblin and a wizard carrying a dragon egg. The rest of the class generally seemed to rely on more conventional techniques. The most conspicuous included one boy who had charmed his quill to take notes for him, and another who had resorted to using Spellotape to keep his eyes open.

Esther managed to stay awake and take a fair amount of notes through the rest of the period, but she was not disappointed to hear the bell signaling the end of class.

"Sorry about that," said Brenna, stifling a yawn. "We should have warned you about Professor Binns earlier."

"If you need to, you can borrow today's notes from me," volunteered Nicole.

"Thanks, but I think I got most of them."

"I'm so glad we're not forced to take another class like History," said Brenna. "A person can only resist falling asleep for so long."

"And you'd rather have a class like Potions, with Bellmont instead of Binns?" asked Natalie with a quirked eyebrow.

"Bellmont may be a terror, but at least he doesn't bore all of his students to death."

"Yes, instead of nearly boring the class to death, Bellmont likes to issue death threats to students he believes are not up to par. I can see how that's better," stated Natalie ironically.

"But-but he's never actually poisoned a student, has he?" asked Esther.

"Actually, he has," said Sarah quietly. "Last year, Doris Crockford, a Hufflepuff fifth year."

"You didn't tell me that on the train," Esther said to Nicole.

"I didn't think you needed to be afraid of Potions classes before you even set foot in Hogwarts."

Esther couldn't think of anything to say.

The group soon arrived in Transfiguration, a somewhat more captivating offering than History of Magic. Demonstrating effortless control, Professor Dumbledore was able to keep them interested, and within a short time, the entire class, even the Slytherins, was focused on the task of turning tea leaves into tea-cups.

From distant observation in the corridors and the Great Hall, it seemed to Esther that the Slytherins held themselves above all other students (and some teachers). However, in class there appeared to be an unspoken agreement with the Ravenclaws: The two houses might be allowed to coexist in relative peace during Transfiguration, so long as they never initiated contact outside of class. This relaxed attitude of Slytherins toward Ravenclaws was very clearly an exception: Hufflepuffs were to be looked down upon and embarrassed as often as possible, and there was open antagonism with any and all Gryffindors. In the short time she'd been at Hogwarts, Esther had already seen clear evidence of this behavior.

After Transfiguration, she asked her new friends about this peculiar arrangement between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin houses.

"Well, you see, it's for their own convenience and pride," explained Natalie, "Slytherins may be sly and cunning and all that, but they know as well as we do that we have a propensity for wit and knowledge of obscure charms. Should they ever even attempt to cross us, they know they would be treated to a wide range of highly innovative and effective forms of embarrassment."

"Even they know it's not wise to enter a battle of the wits unarmed," remarked Brenna.

Esther couldn't help but laugh.

The rest of the day passed relatively quietly for the start of a new school term. After lunch, the group headed off to Herbology, where they were placed in groups of three to prune the fanged geraniums. Esther remained with Natalie and Sarah, while Brenna and Nicole worked together, along with a Hufflepuff boy who was introduced as Ira Hillman.

Ira had a head of curly brown hair and gave Esther a wide smile as they were introduced. However, Esther noted that his smile faded somewhat as Sarah rather determinedly avoided having anything other that minimal contact with him all through class. Esther was perplexed at Sarah's behavior, but put it out of her mind soon after the class ended.

After pruning the fanged geraniums, they finished off their day in Charms. A few minutes after Professor Flitwick began the class with a cheerful welcome, he started the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw class on Coloring Charms. By the time class was over, most of the Ravenclaws and some Gryffindors had mastered the charm, and there was a bizarre assortment of oddly colored canaries flying around the Charms classroom.

Just as a fluorescent pink canary flew past her head, the bell sounded, signaling the end of class. Esther was about to leave with the others when Professor Flitwick called her back.

"Yes, Professor?" asked Esther as she walked back up to the front of the classroom.

"I won't keep you long, Miss Rothberg. I just wanted to formally welcome you to Ravenclaw!" said Professor Flitwick cheerfully. "I didn't have a chance to speak with you after the Sorting Feast last night. Do you have any questions about Hogwarts?"

Esther shook her head.

"Ah well, if you need anything, know that you may always come to me. And I'm sure that if you have questions of any sort, your fellow Ravenclaws will be happy to answer them. In fact, they would probably give you better answers than I could! This is only my second year teaching here, and though I attended Hogwarts as a Ravenclaw, it was many years back, and I'm afraid I may be a bit out of touch." Professor Flitwick laughed a little and then composed himself. "And oh, look at me babbling on. I'm sure you'll be wanting to get to dinner, so I won't keep you any longer. Oh, and Miss Rothberg -- splendid job on the Coloring Charms today. I particularly enjoyed your electric blue canaries!"

"Thank you, Professor Flitwick," said Esther, smiling.

Outside of the classroom, Esther found her roommates waiting for her.

"You didn't have to wait for me," she told them.

"It's alright; you weren't long at all," Nicole said, waving aside Esther's protest.

"And besides," said Natalie, "it's only your second night here. Would you have been able to find your way to the Great Hall by yourself?"

Esther conceded that she probably wouldn't have, and then followed her friends to dinner.

* * *

Thanks very much to FanFictionDreamer for reviewing. I'm really glad that you like it. Reviews are great ego-boosters.


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